To Boo Or Not To Boo?

A familiar story unfolded on Wednesday evening as Villa once again squandered a slender lead to end up with another solitary point instead of the maximum haul. The pattern has become well trodden already this season. We completely dominate at least one half of a game and should be three or four goals up, only to then allow the opposition back into the game and ultimately snatch a late goal. It is absolutely unacceptable to keep making the same mistakes, as the Villa Park faithful demonstrated vociferously.

The real frustration comes from the fact that those goals which are being snatched are coming so late in the game. So far this season we have gifted four goals in the 85^th minute or later. Had we managed to see these particular games out without conceding, we would have seven extra points (wins against Huddersfield, Forest and Brentford and a draw against Sheffield Wednesday), which would see us on fourteen points and in fourth place. That would also have created an impressive 100% home record.

Last night, the boos at full time returned at Villa Park for the first time since last season. It was a raucous effort and I imagine it was probably a shock to some of the players and staff. After all, we are just seven games into the season. However, was it a complete surprise? And was it justified?

I’m not a fan of booing the team. In the long run I don’t think it achieves anything and only creates an atmosphere of fear and adds extra pressure for the next game, knowing that anything less than a win will probably be greeted by even more boos.

On this occasion, whether it was right or wrong, the boos were completely understandable and born totally out of frustration. Put into context, the fans have seen four games at home so far and in three of them have seen a win snatched from their grasp. On top of this, there is a frustration that the goals that are being conceded are sloppy and completely preventable. Once is understandable and you accept it. Twice is poor. Three times is unacceptable. Especially in such a short space of time, which is also a contributing factor to the reaction at full time. Seeing a team throw away four points in as many days in those circumstances is hardly going to evoke a standing ovation or even just a shrug of the shoulders.

I don’t think it is necessarily a bad thing for the fans to show their frustration in this particular situation. It is certainly understandable. Much has been made of this team now having leaders throughout it, so I would hope that those individuals take the reaction on their shoulders rather than crumble under the pressure. They should react in a determined manner rather than the wallflowers of last season or just allowed the situation to fester.

The obvious downside is that a pressure cooker environment is inevitable should we find ourselves leading by just the one goal in the next game at Villa Park and entering into the latter stages of the match. Everyone was fully aware of our tendency to throw a game away late on, and as the Brentford game drew on, the inevitability that they would score was tangible. This was helped in part by our deep defending which invited the Bee’s to come onto us in search of that goal. 

Whilst it may be argued that the fans are creating an unhealthy environment by booing, it is the players, and staff, who must take the responsibility of providing something for them to get behind. One win in seven is not good enough. Whilst we have no right to expect to win every game, the fact is that we have shown that we are clearly capable of winning these matches comfortably. We either need to take our chances to avoid this situation, or learn to see a game out.

The key now is that supporters, having displayed their displeasure last night, must get behind the team again once more. The boos cannot continue and become a regular feature if we draw or lose the next couple of games. We have no right to expect to win games, but we do have a right to expect us to not keep making the same mistakes over and over. The message has been sent – we aren’t happy with the manner of conceding late goals. Now we move on.

Why Grealish and Gabby Need To Take A Long Hard Look At Themselves

Jack Grealish and Gabriel Agbonlahor. Two players who at the moment are out of favour in a big way - with management and with fans alike.

Gabby especially seems to have every single fan against him right now. His days at the club seem numbered and the rumours are that we are keen on shifting his huge wage off the books. Grealish, due to his glimpses of undoubted talent and young age is being afforded a gentler ride but the frustration with him is certainly prevalent.

But these are two players who should not be in anywhere near the positions they find themselves in.

Because these two players are Aston Villa supporters. They could, and should, be absolute heroes for this club.

The absolutely infuriating things about it all is that they ether don’t realise that, or even more worryingly, just don’t care enough.

It makes it so much worse that they are supporters of the club. Because they are both completely lacking in the absolute basic requirements right now - workrate, attitude and effort.

It’s hard to completely judge things, as we’re not in their position. No one knows the ins and outs of things that may or may not be going on. However, what I do know is that if I had the chance to represent the club that I had supported as a boy and be on that pitch, the very least that I would do is put in 90 minutes of hard graft and would give my absolute all. And I don’t think a single Villa fan would disagree with that.

I can also bring Joleon Lescott and Micah Richards into this - we should be so lucky to have a team with four boyhood Villa fans in the side.

Yet, for all Richards’ mistakes this season, I cannot fault his effort at least. His passion has been clear to see from the start of the season and I do believe it is genuine from him. I still believe playing him at right back would be good for us, but this is for another time.

After a less than impressive start, Lescott has been looking more and more assured. While I find it hard to see him as a true Villa fan (remember his reaction when he scored in the last minute for Everton against us - y’know, when Ashley Young then mugged him off to win the game for us 3-2!) there should be some connection within him to want to see this club do well and I don’t think he is particularly failing us in any way right now.

My real problem here lies with Agbonlahor. Yet my concerns lie mostly with Grealish and that he could follow suit.

Agbonlahor should be so much more revered amongst fans. It’s a shame it has gotten to this point with supporters wanting him gone from the club. But it is entirely down to himself. I don’t like to use the ‘look at how much he earns’ as a sole argument to beat a player down with. But you definitely can’t help but think that earning around £60k a week has made Gabby so comfortable that it has affected his game and attitude.

I’ve always thought of him as more athlete rather than a footballer. His finishing has never been great and I would never feel comfortable backing him in a one-on-one situation. Yet, that explosive pace was so important in creating chances for the team and for himself. A willing runner at the least, he frightened the life out of defenders. There is no doubt that he has lost the edge of this raw speed with age and bulking up too much, but he is still much quicker than most other players.

But we have seen less and less from Gabby over the last few years. The game against Spurs at White Hart Lane back in December has become well known for the stat that he touched the ball just 8 times in the first half and two of those were from kick offs. Hauled off in that game at half time, apparently through injury which may explain this poor effort, he has yet to be seen since. But even if injury played it’s part on that occasion, the general consensus is that the player is too comfortable. Certainly, as a striker, he is not contributing enough in the way of goals and just doesn’t seem to get himself involved in games. A questionable workrate now engulfs him, and those electric runs in behind defences are so few and far between over the last few seasons. After presumably becoming financially set for life, just what is Gabby’s motivation at this point? It should be a love of playing for Aston Villa and wanting to give everything to our cause. But that certainly isn’t coming across and hasn’t done for what feels like a long time.

Whilst it may be too late for Agbonlahor, the concern is that Grealish’s attitude will see his potential unfulfilled and simply becoming another promising academy prospect falling by the wayside. A languid style of football is his manner, but despite what some people may think or have even told him, he isn’t good enough for the talent he possesses alone to see him through. He needs to work hard and get himself involved in games and make things happen. His off pitch antics are worrying, and there seems to be a petulance within him which hopefully can be eradicated. If Tim Sherwood was the fun big brother leading him astray and letting him do what he wants, Remi Garde is certainly the strict father trying to instill the discipline that will ultimately determine how successful he’ll be.

Grealish should not be in this position at this stage in his career. If his enthusiasm and respect for playing for his beloved boyhood club is already on the wane already then he is in big trouble. A young kid can have his head turned, and having thousands of pounds a week flooding into your bank account can understandably have a crazy effect on you. I can only imagine what I would’ve been like at that age with that sort of wealth. But seeing Villa cut adrift at the bottom of the table should break his heart still and provoke the realisation that he is in an incredibly fortunate position where he could at least try to have some affect on the situation. How many times have you felt like you wish you were on that pitch and could just have a go at putting in some real effort for Aston Villa. Why is this not happening with Grealish and Agbonlahor?

I get infuriated with lack of effort and movement from players like Rudy Gestede, Charles N’Zogbia, etc...but at the end of the day, they are not tied to this club emotionally, so I don’t have the expectation of things to affect them or care what state the club is in. I hope they are professional enough for it to bother them when they see the fans suffering as we have this season, but in reality it doesn’t really affect the vast majority of players.

However, it should matter to Grealish and Agbonlahor. They both have enough talent and attributes to make a difference to this side. But the very least they should contribute is a game full of effort and passion.

Oh, and to go over to the fans at the end of each game, especially away from Villa Park, no matter the result.

With Agbonlahor rumoured to be in contention to feature in the F.A Cup 4th round tie with Manchester City this weekend, it will be interesting to see if his recent lay off has ultimately had a positive effect and a desire returns.

I just wonder how much being within a professional football environment can remove that natural love for the game that you grow up with. Does the lifestyle it affords change those priorities and passions?

I just wish that all our boyhood fans who are lucky enough to make it as a player for Villa appreciated it as much as Ian Taylor did. It should be the ultimate dream after all.

A Crossroads For Jack Grealish?

Remi Garde this morning has confirmed that Jack Grealish will not be in the squad for the forthcoming visit of Watford in this weekend's vital game in which Villa must surely collect 3 points to kick start a dismal season so far.

The emergence of pictures of Grealish from the weekend has once again propelled him into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, and opinion on this matter seems to divide supporters massively. However, Garde has labelled his behaviour as 'unprofessional' and has taken decisive action accordingly.

From what I can see, there are two main ways of looking at it; firstly, he is a 20 year old kid and he is doing what any 20 year old kid should be doing. Secondly, he is a professional footballer and should act as such.

However, there are many other factors involved in this, and I have to say I am completely behind Garde in his decision to banish Grealish for this game.

Over the coming weeks, possibly even days, we are going to find a lot out about what sort of character Jack Grealish possesses. None of us know him personally and so we can't judge. However, I am concerned that there is a spoilt kid mentality about him and I hope that is not the case, as his career will ultimately never reach it's potential if so.

Garde is obviously unimpressed so far with Grealish. The assessment that Grealish has skill and quality but is 'unfinished' is absolutely fair and spot on. Having dropped Grealish for his first game in charge against Manchester City, Garde, perhaps surprisingly, recalled him for the next game against Everton. There was an obvious message; don't think you've made it already, but here is another chance. Garde was obviously looking for a reaction in the Everton game, yet Grealish failed to deliver and didn't work anywhere near hard enough. That isn't to single the lad out or lay the blame solely at his feet. Yet, despite a challenge from his manager and being given a chance to come back in, Grealish failed to seize his opportunity to prove his point to Garde. A poor team performance is no excuse for an individual performance which lacks effort.

Now, on top of this, the story emerges of Grealish being out on the pop in Manchester on Saturday night and again on Sunday in a Birmingham hotel. Whilst there are no pictures of him partaking in anything, the Daily Mail video and images that came out certainly suggests he is not sober. Not by a long way. 

Villa fans are sick to death of having their weekend's ruined every single week for the last 4 months. Personally, the last thing I want to see is any of our players jollying it up, especially straight after such an embarrassing performance and especially when we are in the midst of a run of 5 points from our opening 13 games.

The argument is that he is a 20 year old kid who is entitled to live his life still. 

Wrong. He isn't just a 20 year old kid. He is a professional footballer for Aston Villa F.C. His age is completely irrelevant. He isn't a youth player, or just breaking through any more. He is an established first team player.£20,000 a week is the price for not living life as an ordinary 20 year old and getting smashed at weekends. At least during the season. 

Whilst I do think he is getting unfairly targeted by the press, he has to realise now that his card is marked due to him having talent and being fairly high profile, in terms of a potential hope for English football. The previous incident involving him this summer is something I don't want to re-visit or link to this as I believe off season, he is entitled to do what he wants - within reason of course. He has been tarnished by that whole episode however, and then with the whole 'hippy crack' nonsense also which was dug up by the press going even further back in time to get mileage out of the story. Grealish needs to be way cleverer than letting them control the image that is portrayed of him.

Garde may get pelters from some sections of supporters for banishing Grealish, but this kid needs some discipline. I think it's probably come as a shock to him, to have Garde not completely flailing over him in the way that Tim Sherwood did. It was telling when Grealish posted this on Twitter when Sherwood was sacked.

It would've been interesting to see how Sherwood had handled this latest breach by our young playmaker, but you can't imagine him taking a hard line. Rather, a nudge and a wink and a 'don't do it again'. Maybe that is how to get the best out of Grealish, but long term it isn't doing him any favours, and Garde is right to try and begin instilling some discipline both in Grealish and around Villa Park in general. It's been too long in coming and whilst it may put some people's noses out of joint, professionalism is absolutely key and he'll soon find out which players he can trust and which he can't.

Grealish would've been in no state for training on Monday morning, and thinking he can wing it is simply not good enough. Whilst a 20 year old can probably run off a night out or two fairly easily, Grealish needs to realise that supporters are counting on him to be in peak condition and totally committed in helping our club, his club, out of this mess.

It will be very interesting to see how Grealish responds to this. We can't afford any sulky and stroppy immaturity. He needs to become a man, and show some determination. And quickly. I've said in previous posts that we, as supporters, are now expecting more from Grealish; more goals, more assists. At the moment he is standing still in his development. 

I personally think Garde is spot on this time. He hasn't fined him or gone over the top in his punishment. But a breach of club rules and procedure simply cannot be left to go without consequence. The next step is now up to Jack Grealish and every single Villa supporter is hoping for a positive and mature response rather than a potential personality clash with Garde.

Any thoughts or comments? Please let me know here or @lovespud83! Thanks for reading!